Save the airfare: Tango, empanadas easy to find
By Glenn Jeffers
Tribune staff reporter
It's 4 p.m. and you're craving an alfajores des maizena or a toasted finger sandwich to go with that espresso. Such a craving would suggest you're either in A) Buenos Aires; B) Cayafate; C) Chicago or D) all of the above.
OK, so "D" is a no-brainer. Regardless of which side of the equator you're from, you can find many of Argentina's comforts here in the Chicago area.
Play some Futbol
Take a drive out to Glen Ellyn for a Chicago Pampas game. The Pampas, an independent soccer league team made up of Argentineans, usually play at Ackerman Park in the western suburb at 4:30 p.m. Saturdays.
If you can't make those games--or don't want to sit on the sidelines--the Pampas and other Argentine ex-pats get together Tuesday and Thursday nights for pick-up soccer games at Walker Park, 74th Street and Wolf Road in Burr Ridge.
The games are always well-attended, with many Argentine guys usually waiting on the sidelines for a chance to play.
"We have people who drive here from East Dundee, Hoffman Estates, from the lake," said team coach and player Ariel Morillo. "They fight an hour in traffic to get to the game."
Eat the food
Argentinean beef, with its lean, savory taste, has long been known as some of the best meat in the world. Though the country's export business took a hit when a case of foot-and-mouth disease was discovered in 2001, restaurants continue to import the lush, juicy beef from other places like Australia. To find a good churrasco, try Tango Sur on the city's North Side. There, you can sample several Argentinean staples: four different kinds of empanadas (chicken, spinach, ham and cheese or the traditional ground beef) and matambre, a flank steak stuffed with vegetables, cooked and then served cold.
The churrasco makes a good meal for one. But if you're dining with a companion, go with the vacio, a mountainous piece of steak, filled and covered in herbs, served on a sizzling grill with sweet potatoes and chimichurri, a steak sauce made from parsley, garlic, olive oil and mild peppers. Just don't forget the wine--Tango Sur is B.Y.O.B.
If you feel like cooking some Argentinean beef at home, you can pick some up at El Mercado Food Mart, an Argentine grocery store, which sits right next to Tango Sur on the southeast corner of Grace Street and Southport Avenue.
Sip the regions
With its high temperatures and humidity, Argentina has become as known for its wine as its beef. You can find some Argentinean selections in most wine shops these days but for more choices, go to Buenos Aires Liquor & Deli on the Northwest Side. "We don't carry any other wine. No California. No French," storeowner Ramon Mario Gimenezsaid.
At Buenos Aires, you'll find one of the Midwest's most extensive collections of malbec, a deep red wine with a slight plum taste, and torrontes, a fruity white wine.
If you're in the mood for dessert, Buenos Aires also sells homemade alfajores--two round shortbread cookies with gooey dulce de leche (caramel milk) in the middle and coated on the side with coconut flakes--empanadas and tostados (toasted finger sandwiches). Also try Penguin Ice Cream and Pizza in Logan Square for some Argentina-style ice cream, a goopy gelato you can get in several flavors.
Buenos Aires also has more than 50 brands of yerba mate, a tasty green tea, in stock, either in tea bags or in its bulky, ground-up-with-twigs form. You can pick up a gourd and a bombillas, a metal straw with a strainer on the end for the leaves and twigs, to drink your warm mate in a more traditional manner.
For a more experimental version of the green tea, try a mate latte at Argo Tea in Lincoln Park, which combines mate, milk, almond extract and cocoa and is served over ice.
Dance the tango
After you're filled up with food and drink, put on your dancing shoes for a night of rug cutting. You can find tango dancing at a number of clubs and restaurants, depending on the day. Try Monday at Cousin's restaurant in Albany Park. If you need a refresher course, call up a tango instructor. For help with my two left feet, I contacted Javier Gomez, a 38-year-old emigre and dance instructor from Buenos Aires who spent the last 13 years in Chicago.
With a friend, I met Javier and his lithe partner Olga Kokaurova at Dance Connection on Clybourn Avenue. We got a quick history on the art of tango; it's an improvisational, social dance form that originated in Argentinean bordellos before finding acceptance and sophistication in Europe.After the history lesson, Javier and Olga showed us the basic steps: a front step, a back step and a side step. From there, my partner and I learned to move around the room in a counter-clockwise circle, how to turn, how to pivot. Javier and Olga showed us the salida, a seven-step movement that, if perfected, is physically elegant.
After a few tries, my partner and I got it down, though we each felt like Bambi when he tries to walk for the first time. "As long as you can get around the floor, you're fine," Gomez said.
PLAYLIST
Consulate General of Argentina, 225 N. Michigan Ave., 312-819-2610
Tango Sur, 3763 N. Southport Ave., 773-477-5466
Restaurant El Nandu, 2731 W. Fullerton Ave., 773-278-0900
Bar N, 2977 N. Elston Ave., 773-866-9898
Meyer's Castle, 1370 Joliet St., Dyer, Ind., 219-865-8452
Penguin Pizza and Ice Cream, 2723 W. Lawrence Ave., 773-271-4924
Tango Miel, 2346 W. Fullerton Ave., 773-235-9171
El Mercado Food Mart, 3767 N. Southport Ave., 773-477-5020
Buenos Aires Liquor & Deli, 3100 N. Cicero Ave., 773-685-4241
Cousin's, 3038 W. Irving Park Rd., 773-478-6868
Tango in Chicago, 1535 N. Dayton St., 312-296-1955,
ww.tangoinchicago.com
Tango Para Todos, 773-505-1577,
Tango... Nada Mas, 6118 N. Newburg Ave., 773-922-5212, www.tangonadamas.com
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Talking tango
Knowing these terms will help you navigate a tango room, says dance instructor Javier Gomez.
Practica: A practice or a class, where you can stop at any time to review steps and techniques.
Milonga: A social dance where dancers move around the room counter-clockwise. There is no stopping during Milonga and bumping into someone is considered an insult by traditionalists.
Tanda: A set of three or four songs, usually played by an orchestra. People normally dance the entire tanda with their partner.
Cortina: A quick, fast song in between the tandas that gives a male partner time to escort his female partner back to her seat before taking another partner for the next tanda.
Cabeceo: A head nod that a man uses to invite a woman to dance during the next tanda. If she accepts, she will meet his gaze and nod in response. If not, she'll ignore the motion.
-- Glenn Jeffers